Its not just the cost of getting married its the ability for a young couple to purchase a home (which isn't the size of a matchbox) in which to live.

Farrukh, Woking, UK

Marriage rates are going down because the risk of divorce is high and divorcing men stand to lose much. You have to be very sure now that you want to tie yourself into a financial contract such as marriage because of the impact divorce has on the finances of the wage-earner.

If married couples were favoured in taxation, I'm sure more hedging couples would actually tie the knot.

Sarah Hague, Montpellier, France

Does it make difference if some old twit sign a piece of paper,
as long as two people form they're alliance together, and, if
they bring any family in to this selfish-and-patronising-world,
then it's for them to decide, what this to do with Government or
the opposition? Ken

Cllr Ken Tiwari(Idependent), Oxford, United Kingdom

If you make divorce laws so harsh that people end up financially as well as emotionally crippled by divorce, it's hardly a surprise if they want to avoid it!

David Space, London, UK

You wanted a stable loving relationship, marriage and a couple of intelligent kids.

But the bastards have already loved them and left them; with the single childless man expected to pick up the pieces. Then take the gamble of paying through the nose for the 'privilege'.

Thats what 10yrs of ZaNuLab has done for the country. No wonder its on the decline.

Modern life is rubbish.

Cheers.

James, Huddersfield, Yorks

To anybody who seeks to suggest that civil partnerships in any way 'undermine' marriage, one question: how? How can an institution be undermined by giving more people the right to enjoy it? And as for the question posed here of whether a civil partnership is an equivalent commitment, that's just insulting. A civil partnership is equivalent in EVERY way to a marriage and, had the Government had the guts to stand up to the church, then it would have been called marriage since that's what it is.

If you want to blame anybody for 'undermining' the institution, how about a few choice straight people: Britney Spears, Heather Mills, Elizabeth Taylor, any number of A-Z list 'celebrities' who collect marriages and divorces. Perhaps, as one other contributor suggested, the number of civil partnerships should also be included in these kinds of articles as a marriage success story. Don't blame the institution; there are many gay people who fought long and hard to participate in it

Sophie, Liverpool,

We're a stable couple, with kids, in a loving family. Unmarried and intend to stay that way. Plenty of friends in the same boat. How on earth does not having signed a piece of paper or thrown a party make us worse parents?
Oh, and incidentally, it's high time demographic questionnaires thought outside the box of "married, single, widowed or divorced" - as I am none of the above. And that some people would get over the fact that "Ms" is more appropriate than "Miss" for someone in my position.

Kristie, Cambridge, UK

Bill, Wales, does have a point. As a man in my late 20s who has found himslef in a lucky position of relative affluence, marrying someone with much less wealth COULD prove risky. this shouldnt affect me, but this is not a perfect world and it does affect who i choose as a prospective partner

simon, london,

RM from London.

Married couples tax allowance was hardly an incentive to working couples - nor wass it an incentive to working parents who have not and do not receive any tangible relief from the government despite contributing two taxable incomes to the exchequer.

CR, London,

..and only one comment gets the point - the ridiculous divorce laws. Why on earth anyone with disparate wealth or earnings from their partner gets married I fail to understand. It is a sad state of affairs but why take a gamble with your wealth. I know too many people who have been married for a very short time who have been well leeched.

Richard, Newton Abbot,

I think it unwise of some politicians to present marriage as a silver bullet. It must be remembered that all familes with two parents are not "stable" and that many criminals come from homes where there are two parents. Raising children is no easy business, but many senior politicians avoid many of the pressures by sending their children away to boarding school. If boarding school was an available for the children of poor people there would be less family breakdown in society.

Des, Edinburgh,

Quote:

"Marriage rates for men over 16 were 22.8 per 1,000, and for women 20.5, the figures showed, which are the lowest rate since records began in 1862. " "


As it was legal for a 12 year old girl to marry a fourteen year old boy up to 1929 (when it was raised to 16 for both) - How do they know?

joey pica, Manchester, Lancashire

It takes two to make a marriage: the bride and her mother!

John, London,

What a surprise?? Hardly

Labour have systematically undermined the institution of marriage, first by removing the (miniscule) tax break, downplaying the role of the church and religion in the name of political correctness and then by 'positive' discrimination guidelines and last but not least the introduction of civil partnerships.

Not to mention the fact that men always seem to come off far worse in divorce than women, so why marry and expose yourself to the 'danger' when the government is perfectly happy (and your 'partner is financially better off) living together with the piece of paper?

Don't get me wrong, civil partnerships are a fine arrangement, but do they offer the same commitment as a marriage?

But perhaps this whole discussion should not be about dwindling marriage figures but the general degradation of the family unit as a whole, regardless of its configuration.

Mark Vickery, Sittingbourne, Kent

It's all about the money, honey! Labour are paying women to produce kids, not raise them in the best way.

judy, Liverpool, England

What i don't understand is the Tories are the party of small government, supposedly. Yet they believe it the place of the state to interfier in individual realtionships.

The idea that marriage/relationship breakdown would be prevented through tax breaks is a joke! All it would mean is that single mothers/fathers would suffer more financial burdon following a divorsce.

The Tories are against tax breaks to help you into work or return to work (Working Families Tax credit and the New Deal schemes) but pro tax breaks for marriage. eg. to help the middle classes.

Dan, manchester,

Is this surprising???? The tables have turned WAY to far against man-marriage........What man (on his mind) would want anything to do with a "Heather Mills" type broad? What man on his right mind would want anything to do with marriage at all????
Google Marriage Strike and see.........

Bill, Wales,

Anything that gives man a sense of belonging including family, nation or religion have been turned into taboos by this Government. The very fabric of society has been ripped apart and now the nation, and its children, are suffering the consequences.

Matt, Naples, Italy

There is little incentive for couples to get and stay married. Under the labour government children are actually penalised for being brought up in a stable and loving family. If my husband and I were divorced my children, like many of their wealthy single parent friends would have been entitled to a host of handouts, such as the EMA grant to stay on at school and bursaries to help them through university. How do you respond to your children when they question why you are not divorced so they can enjoy the same benefits as their single parent friends...........

Maria, London, UK

Wonder what the figures would be like if they included ALL marriages...including civil partnerships. Maybe now people only do this when they think it is right for them, vs. because it is 'right for society'.

In real terms are the Tories 'sexing up' the significance of this statistic. What relationship is there to mental health vs marital status...but they don't want to look at the real causes. They want simple illogical rhetoric.

Yep, that's David Cameron and co. Superficial and shallow.

Megan Karnes, London,

If you are male and gay then in modern Britian you are valued. If you are male and married, then you are not quite all there!

Matt, Naples, Italy

To Rob..
You can get married in a registry office for next to nothing if marriage is purely your aim. If you want to compete with Rooney, then its going to cost you!

Teresa, Naples, Italy

Ever the reluctant bridegroom, Brown was nearly 50 before he married Sarah Macaulay.

Brown also did away with the married couples tax allowance.

Labour are the party which is causing the rapid collapse of society in this country; social breakdown is an extremely serious issue now.

RM, London, England

The hypocrisy of politicians never ceases to amaze me. The Conservatives invented the CSA, the one government agency that hunts down and predates on fathers that want to stay in touch with their children. Their assessments impoverish men trying to move on with their lives. Britain's severe anti-male divorce laws (where the woman gets to keep the children and then half of everything that the man owns, including his pension, even if she is the one initiating the divorve) were set up by both the Conservatives and Labour governments, so neither party can claim it is supportive of "family life" in Britain.

Jyotin , George Town, Grand Cayman

"Marriage rates for men over 16 were 22.8 per 1,000, and for women 20.5, the figures showed, which are the lowest rate since records began in 1862. "

Is there a marriage rate for men under 16?!

Stephen, St.Ives, Cambridgeshire

Has M.R from Stockport got as chip on thier shoulder? A stable marriage certainly makes children happier and that is undisputed! The family is the cornerstone of civilisation and marriage is the only acceptable option if we want to avoid interbreeding! Within modern Britain and the break up of families, how will your child know in 20 years time that they arent in fact having a child with their estranged sister or brother?

Teresa, Naples, Italy

One of the main reasons less people are getting married is the cost, I am getting married in June and the cost is horrendus - supplies add 10 - 20% onto their prices as soon as you mention the word 'wedding'

Rob, Ipswich, Suffolk

Right, the government is reponsible for couples not marrying and 'fuelling family breakdown'. hmm, I did not realise there was a minister for love..... maybe he should whip up some cute tax breaks to enforce some marriages!

James, Oxford, UK

Step 1: embed a standard, fair pre-nup into law so that it is the presumptive agreement in the event of divorce. That would require one partner to argue - in advance of getting married - that a divorce would provide them more than their fair share. This would help people avoid gold-diggers, however many limbs they have.

Nick, Rotherham, UK

So.

What.

Please enter the 21st century. No, hang on, enter the 20th century first.

There are plenty of countries where marriage went out of fashion years ago where morals haven't gone down the pan. A marriage doesn't suddenly make you a better parent.

M.R., stockport, UK

So what are they going to do - MAKE people marry !!!!

Ian Payne, WALSALL,

Labour don't want men to be part of families hence the lack of a need for a father in IVF in the current embryology bill going through at the moment. Disgusting.

Men voted labour in, they will vote them out again. Labour have marginalised men in all areas of life. It is not surprising suicide rates among men are so high!

Simon, York,